A friend of ultimate loyalty in the battle of Sekigahara.
Early life
Shima Sakon’s exact place of birth and early life remains a mystery. One of the popular sayings is that he was born in the Yamato province to Shima Matsukatsu, a local landlord.
Shima was very talented at both military and literature, making him one of the closest men of his former lord, Tsutsui Junkei. Junkei really liked Shima and he was one of the two most influential men contributing to the Tsutsui clan. Shima was then given the title “Sakon” as his colleague Matsukura earned the other title.
However, the happy life under Tsutsui didn’t last long. Junkei’s son was rather hostile to Shima, and Shima chose to leave the Tsutsui clan.
Shima and Mitsunari
As Shima left the family he heard the news that Mitsunari was passionately approaching him. Mitsunari was famous for his kindness to his fellow commanders. He even offered a salary which was only half of his own salary. Shima gazed at this passionate man as he left the place for Shima to decide. Mitsunari’s confidence and kindness reminded him of his first lord. Almost without hesitation, Shima decided to join Mitsunari.
Shima was entrusted with very important roles, managing the army, family and finance of the Mitsunaris. Shima felt trusted by Mitsunari and with his colleagues, Otani Yoshitsuge and Gamo Yorisato, he felt that he was at the right place. “Mitsunari is my dear friend and lord.” Shima always answered in such a manner whenever someone asked him about what he thought of Mitsunari.
Episode before Sekigahara
Mitsunari was determined to settle his conflicts and dissatisfaction with Tokugawa once in for all in Sekigahara. Otani had warned Mitsunari that it was an impossible fight. Shima agreed and Gamo was also well aware of it. However, with Mitsunari being very determined, Shima chose to side with him, fighting for his friend and lord one last time.
On the other hand, Yagyu Munenori was very close to Tokugawa and knew that if Shima chose to side with Mitsunari, the two would have to fight against each other unavoidably. Yagyu was good friends with Shima so he wanted to avoid it.
Yagyu tried to persuade Shima to not join the battle. Shima knew that Yagyu would come and he calmly said, “I know my lord is rather a hesitant person, which caused him multiple failures. If my lord was to surrender and join Tokugawa, he would have been able to live a peaceful life but in shame and humiliation. And he would never be able to make it. Please forgive me that I cannot betray my lord, Yagyu.”
Battle of Sekigahara
Shima was a brave warrior, leading his unit of 1000 men destroying the strong forces of the Eastern Army. In front of him were showers of arrows and countless enemies. He showed no fear and charged without hesitation with his men.
“All for Ishida Mitsunari!”
The Eastern Army was chased to the hill of the mountain, with low morale and together with Gamo’s tactics, they were able to destroy a main unit of the enemy.
The battle then turned bitter. Although the units of Shima, Otani and Gamo were composed of faithful soldiers, many others were not. Shima’s men fell one after another.
“Commander, should we retreat and wait for more support?”
“Commander, we ran out of supplies!”
The worried voice of his subordinates surrounded Shima and it soon turned into fear which spread through the entire unit.
“Our lord has not surrendered yet,” Shima shouted loudly as everyone dropped silent and gazed at him, “We, as servants, should never surrender until the last second!”
“Charge! My fellow servants and friends!”
Shima then charged once last time with his soldiers, into the sea of enemies. Knowing that this would be their last attack and chance, Shima, however, showed no fear or hesitation until he was defeated by the vast Eastern Army.
Some soldiers from the Eastern Army recalled, “Shima charged at us like a beast, destroying our forces and his shouts made us fearful of him. The echoes of his shouts ringed in our ears even days and weeks after the battle. This is a man not to be forgotten.”
Shima died gloriously during the battle
People remembered Shima for his braveness, his fearlessness to death and his faithfulness to Mitsunari. Although his body was never found, and some claimed that Shima escaped during battle and hid his identity, living in a village, he would forever be remembered as the bravest and most faithful warrior and friend of Ishida Mitsunari.
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